For HP Ship Weeks on tumblr.


It's not the first time Draco's married a Greengrass.

When he was a child his mother loved throwing parties for all her high society friends. There was tea and ladies in flowing dresses- far too fancy for lunch time, he always thought- and ridiculous hats and Draco hated them. They were boring and they lasted all day long and he was under strict orders not to meddle. And he wasn't keen to test those orders after the time he'd tried to steal a biscuit. Suffice to say his father had not been pleased.

One afternoon when he was eight, Draco was minding his own business, walking around the garden. It wasn't fair, he thought, plucking one of his mother's prized roses from a bush. Why did he have to stick around for these stupid parties if he wasn't even allowed to talk to anyone? He started stripping the petals from the flower, taking his frustration out on the only thing he could.

"Hey! Don't do that- what'd that flower ever do to you?"

"Shut it, 'Story."

Draco looked up, startled, and dropped the red petals to the ground.

There were two girls standing no more than ten feet away, having seemingly appeared from nowhere. One had long, blonde hair and big, blue eyes and a pink ribbon in her hair that matched her pink dress. The other, smaller girl had brown hair that was in disarray and a blue dress with a grass stain down the front.

"I'm Daphne," the blonde girl said sweetly, batting her eyelashes and flipping her hair. For eight years old she was really laying it on thick.

"I'm Astoria," the messy one piped up when it became clear her sister was not going to introduce her. She didn't seem phased by it though, acting as if it were a normal occurrence. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"I'm Draco Malfoy," he said standing up as straight as he could and trying to make himself sound like his father.

"Yes, I know! Mummy's told me all about you. We're the same age, you know?"

"I'm only two years younger!" Astoria seemed intent on not being forgotten.

Draco smiled pityingly at Daphne, trying to show her that he understood how difficult it must be to have such a strange sister.

It wasn't ten minutes after they met before Astoria suggested the wedding.

"I'll be the bride and Draco, you be the groom. And 'Story can be the person who marries us."

"How come I can't be the bride? How come you always get to be the bride, Daphne?"

Daphne sighed one of those long-suffering sighs and shook her head, shooting Draco a look that said, "I'm sorry my sister is such a pain."

And so, Draco Malfoy was married to Daphne Greengrass and they lived happily ever after for the next two hours (until Draco decided he'd rather sort through his Chocolate Frog cards and Daphne divorced him- I simply won't be married to someone who thinks I'm boring).

Now Draco stands at a real altar, the old wizard who seems to be in charge of every wedding ever behind him. He wants to tug at his collar- damn dress robes- but his mother is watching and so are all of her well-to-do acquaintances. Or at least the ones she's managed to keep through everything. And anyway Daphne is coming up the aisle now in her floaty pink dress and she winks at him. Maybe she, too is remembering their wedding.

He looks to the back of the room and he can see her silhouette through the frosted glass on the door and his stomach does a little flip and he swallows thickly. She'll be his wife soon. Astoria Malfoy. Who would have ever guessed that little brown-haired girl with the crazy hair and the grass-stained dress would be his wife?

The string quartet- Astoria's mother had insisted on this detail- starts up and the doors opened and Draco feels his heart jump to his throat. Her dark hair is pulled up off her neck and she's wearing the necklace Draco gave her on their five-month anniversary and her dress- her dress- is long and lacy and not-quite-white, and the neckline is so low Draco thinks maybe he blushes a little.

He remembers her complaining about the dress selection. Her mother had wanted her to wear something poofy and sparkly and elaborate and she absolutely refused. Daphne had suggested a compromise but apparently Astoria had gotten her way after all. The dress was simple and understated and totally, completely her.

She's at his side now. She's smiling at him and there's a piece of hair that's fallen out of place so he reaches across and tucks it behind her ear. He hasn't been so happy in- Merlin he can't remember ever being so happy.

He hears what the officiating wizard says but he doesn't really listen because he's transfixed by Astoria's eyes and the way her thumb is rubbing a circle on his hand and he totally misses the part where he's supposed to say I do and Astoria has to wave a hand in front of his face. He hears Mrs. Greengrass tut in the front row but he can't bring himself to care because Astoria smirks at him and raises one eyebrow.

Later, when they slip away from the ridiculously overdone reception that Mrs. Greengrass planned Draco plucks a red rose from a bush in the garden.

"What'd that flower ever do to you?" Astoria asks lightly. She's smiling and her hair is falling and the sun is setting behind them. Draco tucks the flower in her hair and kisses her forehead. She looks up at him and smirks that devilish smirk of hers before she hikes her dress up to her knees and takes off running into the maze statues and flowers and trees.

He's fairly sure his marriage to Astoria will last much, much longer than his marriage to Daphne- and unlike that first Greengrass marriage when he was eight, Draco doubts he'll ever be bored with Astoria as he takes off after her.